Dawnguard is the first major official add-on for Skyrim. The add-on revolves around the Dawnguard, an ancient organization dedicated to hunting vampires and thwarting the schemes of Lord Harkon, who intends to use an Elder Scroll to permanently blot out the sun. You can choose to aid the Dawnguard in their quest to destroy the vampires, or join the vampire clan and gain the powers of a Vampire Lord.

Dawnguard™ is the first official game add-on for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim® - the 2011 Game of the Year. The Vampire Lord Harkon has returned to power. By using the Elder Scrolls, he seeks to do the unthinkable - to end the sun itself. Will you join the ancient order of the Dawnguard and stop him? Or will you become a Vampire Lord yourself? Featuring an all new faction questline and locations, the ultimate choice will be yours.—Official Summary

Gameplay Information

Creatures — Of the creatures added by the add-on, most are new variants of creatures already present in the original version of the game. A few creatures added are entirely new types, and there are several unique creatures added as well.

Items — New items added by the add-on include apparel, armor, books, jewelry, weapons, and more.

NPCs — Over 80 new NPCs have been added by the add-on, many of which are aligned with one of the two new major factions. Some can be found at their main location immediately after installing the add-on, while others can only be encountered during certain quests.

Places — 24 new places have been added by the add-on, though none appear on the map immediately. Some places may not be entered until the related quests have been started, and many quests will send the player to places that already existed in the original version of the game.

Quests — 39 quests have been added by the add-on, with both a main questline and multiple side quests. There is no quest immediately added to the quest journal when you first install the add-on.

Notes

Several new world interactions are added by the add-on which do not have their own individual article pages.

Dawnguard was subject to a 30 day exclusivity deal with Microsoft, where it was only available on the Xbox 360 (from June 26 2012). As it turned out, it was released for the PC after 36 days, and due to severe performance issues, it was February 2013 before it was released for the PS3.